Volume 11 Number 4
October / November / December 2017

Reviewed In This Issue
2 WE REMEMBER OUR FRIENDS...
And who is a B&O customer?
Editorial By Paul Messenger

4 STAN'S SAFARI 40
Stan is inspired by encounters with the remarkable Enid Lumley

6 SAY WHAT YOU WANT...
Voice activation is changing the way many people interact with the internet and their music collections, says Andrew Everard.

8 PROAC RESPONSE D TWO
Kevin Fiske tries out a stand-mount speaker from the well established ProAc brand.

10 LINN KLIMAX DS+KATALYST
Martin Colloms tries out a reference level streamer from Linn Products.

13 QED XT25
Martin Colloms has found a modestly priced loudspeaker cable from a UK brand.

14 ROTEL RA-1572
This big new Rotel integrated amplifier might not be fashionable, but Andrew Everard is impressed.

16 PASSING NOTES
Julian Musgrave delivers the first episode in the diary of an audiophile.

18 PASS LABS XP-12 And XA30.8
Impressed by Pass Labs' integrated INT-60 amp, Kevin Fiske decides to check out a pre-/power combo.

21 NAD C388
This flexible, powerful amplifier is as sophisticated as it is compelling, says Andrew Everard.

24 CHORD ELECTRONICS MOJO+POLY
Harry Harrison reviews two new portable components from Chord Electronics.

26 ATC SCM50SL
Martin Colloms gets to tackle one of ATC's larger loudspeakers.

30 MULTI-ROOM, YES – BUT Hi-Fi?
Multi-room audio makes filling a home with music very easy, but what do they offer the enthusiast? Andrew Everard takes an overview.

33 MAGICO SPODS
Martin Colloms tries out Magico's SPOD heavy duty floor couplers beneath his S5 IIs.

36 DSD DOWNLOADS
DSD is a complicated business, according to Keith Howard, who rates high-rate DSD as 'the real thing'.

40 WHO INVENTED THE TRIODE?
Robert Harris looks back to the earliest days of electronics.

42 SPENDOR A4
Chris Frankland finds out if this new UKmade floorstander sounds as good as it looks.

44 FOCAL SCALA UTOPIA EVO
Paul Messenger spends quality time with Focal's latest Evo version of the Scala Utopia.

46 OBITUARIES
John Borwick and Gerard Chretien are just two key industry people who've died recently.

48 THE AUTUMN HI-FI SHOWS
Martin Colloms, Julian Musgrave and Paul Messenger, with reports from three of this Autumn's hi-fi shows.

51 HARRY PARTCH
Julian Musgrave discovers an unusually interesting musician.

52 FAVOURITE THINGS
Writer and ex-Pro engineer, Wayne Hyde picks some interesting rarities among his 'top ten'.

54 JAZZ PICKS
Greg Drygala picks six jazz releases.

56 THE BEST OF CLASSICAL
Colin Anderson picks a jazzer with his classical selection!

58 ROCK, POP AND OTHER NICE MUSIC
Nigel Finn gets all Porcupine Tree with Steven Wilson.

60 SUBJECTIVE SOUNDS
Paul Messenger on a single-driver system and a built in sub.

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